Pinkney new Catholic coach: girls hoops
KNOXVILLE --- Freeman Pinkney has a passion for the sport of basketball and he’s bringing his love of the game to Knoxville Catholic High School.
Pinkney, 30, recently was chosen to take the reins of the Lady Irish varsity girls basketball team.
Saying he has been involved in basketball his entire life, Pinkney added he’s ready for the challenge awaiting him at Catholic — and he’s already impacted the program this summer.
“The parents have already told me how much better it is,” said Pinkney, who replaces Alex Bowers and inherits a program that has struggled in recent years. “I’m fired up. I want our girls to compete and I want them to have fun.
“... Some of these girls aren’t going to play basketball at the next level,” he added.
Catholic won just two games last season, and Pinkney is eager to put that in the rear view mirror.
“We’re moving forward and everything here is positive,” said Pinkney, who has worked at the Boys and Girls Clubs of the Tennessee Valley and runs a non-profit organization that has seven AAU basketball teams. He coaches both AAU boys and girls. Division II.
“I am extremely excited for him and feel blessed to have him on our staff,” KCHS athletic director Jason Surlas said
Pinkney was an all-district and all-region player in high school.
He played collegiately at Walters State Community College, Martin Methodist College, Union College and Bethel University.
Pinkney toured Mexico as a basketball player, and also played semi-professionally in Los Angeles, Chattanooga, Bowling Green, Kentucky and Springfield, Illinois.
